Chapter 2
TWO
Bram
One year ago…
“You’re cute. I think you’d meet a lot of people who would appreciate a bear like you in Velvet Fang.” That was the line that started it all.
One of the customers at my café slid a black business card toward me when I was on my shift. There was a glint in the vampire woman’s eyes, like she knew what I really needed deep down, like she could see the trauma I kept close to my chest.
I took the card. On it were the words: Velvet Fang in pink, followed by A BDSM sex club for monsters who like to explore their darkness while being safe.
My ears pricked up, and I looked at the vampire with shock.
“I’m sorry. I think you’ve got the wrong person.” I blushed, turning beet red. It would have looked so weird.
I’m 6’8, half-bear and half-human most of the time, but monstrous enough that even when I haven’t fully shifted into bear mode, there’s no hiding that I’m a monster.
That’s why I moved to the monster part of the city when I was fifteen. My mother was a human, and my father a werewolf, but somehow, I turned out to be neither.
“Just try it. You will like it.” The vampire grabbed her coffee and left.
I stood there, still holding the card, surrounded by the scent of roasted beans and enchanted caramel.
That night, I went to the club.
The first thing I notice when I step out of the elevator is that Velvet Fang doesn't look anything like I expected.
I'm not sure what I expected, exactly. Maybe some dark basement filled with leather-clad monsters glaring at newcomers, but instead I find myself standing in the middle of what looks like a magical palace hidden beneath the city.
Black marble stretches beneath my boots, polished so perfectly that the crimson light from the chandeliers reflects beneath my feet.
Enchanted candles float beside the walls without anything holding them up, their flames shifting from red to violet to blue.
Music pulses somewhere deeper inside the club, soft enough that I can still hear conversations around me, but rich enough to make something flutter inside my chest.
There are monsters everywhere.
A pair of vampires walk past me holding hands, their pale faces illuminated by the red glow of the sconces.
A minotaur in an immaculate suit laughs with a little demon wearing a velvet collar, while a woman with enormous moth wings leans against a pillar and whispers something into a satyr's ear that makes him throw his head back and laugh.
I stop walking.
My ears twitch in every direction.
I've never seen anything like this.
I grew up around monsters, but the monster part of the city has always felt ordinary to me. This place is different. Here, nobody seems to be hiding.
Nobody is pretending to be smaller, safer, quieter, or more normal than they really are.
For the first time in my life, I wonder what it might feel like to do the same.
"Bram?"
I look toward the reception desk.
The vampire from my café is sitting behind a curved black desk, her crimson eyes gleaming with amusement. Her smile widens. "You came."
I scratch the back of my neck. "Apparently."
"I knew you would." She gestures toward the desk, and I approach cautiously, suddenly aware that I'm the biggest person in the reception area. She looks at me, then at my enormous hands. "Don't worry. We don't bite without permission."
I laugh nervously. "That's reassuring."
"It should be." She slides a glowing tablet toward me. "Your first month is free. Velvet Fang likes giving newcomers a chance to discover whether the club suits them."
I stare at the form. "Free?"
"Completely."
I fill out the basic information, still looking around every few seconds.
Then I see them.
An orc woman strides through the reception area with a satyr tucked beneath one enormous arm.
She is massive.
Even bigger than me.
Her green-gray skin is covered in intricate tattoos, and two thick tusks curve upward from her lower lip. The satyr looks tiny beside her, his legs dangling as she carries him effortlessly.
She stops beside the desk, kisses his forehead, and squeezes him against her side. "Are you ready for tonight, my precious little boy?"
The satyr beams up at her. "Yes, Mommy."
"I'll make you very happy tonight." She kisses him again before carrying him farther into the club.
I stare after them.
The vampire receptionist watches me watching them, then clears her throat.
I immediately look away. "Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize."
"I wasn't staring."
"You absolutely were." She laughs, and I can feel my ears burning.
"So, Bram, what are you looking for?"
I look toward the orc and satyr disappearing into the club. "I don't know."
"That's perfectly fine."
I hesitate before rubbing my palms against my pants. "Whatever they have?"
She raises one elegant eyebrow. "That's less helpful."
"I think I want..." I swallow, trying to find the words. "Someone to tell me what to do."
Her expression softens. "And?"
"I want to be good for them."
"Ah." She taps something into the tablet. "You're looking for an MDLB relationship."
I blink. "A what?"
"Mommy Domme, Little Boy." She turns the tablet toward me. "It's a roleplay dynamic. The dominant partner takes on a nurturing, maternal role, while the submissive partner takes on a little-boy role. For some people it's playful. For others, it's deeply emotional."
I stare at the floor. "That sounds..."
"Like what you want?" she asks gently.
I nod. "Yeah."
She smiles. "I thought so."
She prints a small enchanted badge and hands it to me. MDLB — SUBMISSIVE.
I stare at it. "Do I have to wear this?"
"Only if you want people to know what you're interested in."
I pin it to my shirt.
Suddenly, the club feels much less intimidating.
Then I turn around. I walk into the club, going deeper into a hall that’s carpeted and filled with monsters milling about. Some have drinks in their hand, others are introducing themselves to what looks like prospective sexual partners.
My breath catches when I spot a beautiful siren across the room. Her hair is silvery white, like strands of moonlight. She’s six feet tall, still shorter than me, and has a lithe, slender physique.
She's standing near the bar, speaking with another woman, and for a moment I wonder whether I'm looking at an actual person or something the club's magic created specifically to make me lose my mind.
Her hair falls in a sleek sheet down her back, contrasting sharply with the black leather dress hugging her tall, elegant body. Her boots reach almost to her knees, and the heels make her already impressive height even more commanding.
Her face is almost perfectly human, but something about her features is too beautiful to be ordinary.
Her cheekbones are sculpted, her lips full, her skin luminous beneath the crimson lights, and her eyes have a strange, mesmerizing quality that makes me feel as though she can see straight through me.
A siren.
I know immediately.
My bear practically wakes up inside me.
I look down at my badge, then at hers.
MOMMY DOMME — SIREN.
I walk toward her before I can convince myself not to.
She notices me coming. Her eyes flick to my badge before returning to my face. "You must be new."
"Is it that obvious?" I ask.
Her lips curve. "You're wearing your badge upside down."
I look down.
It is.
"Oh."
She reaches out and turns it around. "There."
"Thank you." The gesture, so smooth and yet so maternal, makes my heart skip a beat.
It also affects other parts of me. My groin starts to heat as I realize how luscious and beautiful her breasts are, how her ass is shapely and round, and would feel so good in my hands.
"You're welcome." Her gaze drops to my badge again. "You’re into MDLB?"
I nod. "That's what I'm here for."
Her eyebrows lift. "That's what I'm here for, too."
My heart jumps. "You mean..."
"I’m a Mommy Domme."
"Oh."
She laughs softly. "You're adorable when you're nervous."
My ears flatten. "I'm not usually this nervous."
"I imagine being seven feet tall helps."
"I'm six-eight."
She looks up at me with a mischievous smile. "That was not a correction I expected."
I laugh, and her smile widens.
"I'm Seraphina. That’s my scene name and real name, by the way."
"Bram. I don’t know what a scene name means. I guess it’s my real name."
“How cute. I like when big, scary monsters like you are all shy and obtuse.” Her eyes drift toward my café uniform. "What do you do for work, by the way?"
I clench my fists. I can tell by looking at Seraphina that she does something important.
She’s self-assured and confident. My job is just average, and I wonder what she’ll think of it.
If she’ll react the same way my mother did, calling me useless as a man because I can’t earn millions and keep her in a luxury.
I clear my throat. "I'm a barista."
"A barista?" She sounds genuinely amused.
"Yeah."
"That explains why you smell like coffee."
I sniff my shirt, suddenly self-conscious. "That's embarrassing."
"It's not." She steps closer, and her silver hair catches the light. "Coffee is one of my weaknesses."
I smile despite myself. "I make a very good latte."
"Are you flirting with me?"
"I don't know."
She laughs. "You're terrible at it."
"I've never done this before."
"Velvet Fang?"
"Talking to a woman who looks like she stepped out of a dream."
Her expression changes. For a moment, she looks almost shy.
Then she recovers, lifting one elegant eyebrow. "Careful, little bear. Keep complimenting me like that and you’ll find I like to devour cute little things like you."
My stomach flips at the nickname. “I…I would like that.”
“Like to be devoured?’ She glances at my badge again, then back into my eyes. "Or would you like to be my sweet little boy tonight?"
I don't even have to think. "Yes, Mommy. I want to be yours. I want to be taken care of, made to feel small and cherished."
Her smile is immediate. Something in her eyes tells me she likes my answer very, very much.
"Give me your paw, little bear."